Silence.
Profound silence.
Neither Chu Yazhi, who held the phone, nor Murong He, on the video call, nor Murong Mingyuan herself, watching the video, spoke.
They were all stunned.
Because none of them had expected Li Qianfan to actually go through with it!!
After all, Murong Mingyuan's face had a beauty score of around 96 points.
Yet Li Qianfan, with a calm expression, used a hairpin to slash a wound across it, ten centimeters long and a full three millimeters deep.
Pink muscle, exposed.
Utter terror.
Li Qianfan then placed the hairpin in his hand near the corner of Murong Mingyuan's left eye.
He looked at the video: "Murong He, who planned this? I want you to tell me. And please understand, I am not joking. I am very, very serious."
To prove how serious he was, he tightened his grip with his right hand again!
Very slowly, he drew another diagonal slash on Murong Mingyuan's face.
A cross.
This diagonal cross completely ruined Murong Mingyuan's face, which could be described as divinely beautiful.
That wasn't all.
The blood-stained hairpin was then placed on Murong Mingyuan's left eye.
The sharp tip of the hairpin pointed at her eyeball.
"Wait!"
Murong He, regaining his senses within the video, cried out hoarsely, "Li Qianfan! You, you bastard!"
Murong Mingyuan, who had witnessed her own face being brutally disfigured, also woke up.
She could not bear such a cruel reality, more terrifying than death.
Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Li Qianfan ignored Murong He, who was shouting hysterically on the video.
However, he did not want Murong Mingyuan to faint just like that.
He raised his hand and heavily stabbed the bloody hairpin into her left rib.
Ah!
Murong Mingyuan, who had fainted, screamed and woke up in pain.
"Open your eyes and take a good look at your face."
Li Qianfan casually picked up a small mirror from the bedside cabinet and placed it before Murong Mingyuan.
His tone was indifferent: "This is all your own doing; don't blame me. And you'd better not try to be a hero again. Otherwise, I will really take out one of your eyes."
He was not making empty threats.
In fact.
Whether it was at Yufeng Villa or here, Li Qianfan disdained to threaten anyone!
It was just that at Yufeng Villa, the Murong family's attitude had been somewhat acceptable, so Li Qianfan had not acted ruthlessly.
Now—
The Murong family, knowing full well that Chu Yazhi had his name tattooed on her backside, still wanted to seize her club and send her to a wild entertainment venue to be defiled by the masses. This was going too far!
Although he wouldn't cause a scene like Su Ziyu's when threatened by Lan Yunhai over this matter, he had to make the person who instigated Murong Mingyuan to come to Tiandong die.
His murderous intent was evident!!
Did Murong Mingyuan dare to play the hero?
No!!!
If she dared to utter another word like "Kill me, flay me, I don't care," Li Qianfan would unhesitatingly gouge out one of her eyes.
"Speak, who was that person?" Li Qianfan pressed, his voice low, applying a slight pressure with the hairpin in his right hand.
Murong Mingyuan completely broke down, crying and shouting, "It was my elder brother, Murong Qizhu!"
Murong Qizhu, aged 33, was Murong Mingyuan's eldest cousin.
He was also one of the most outstanding members of the third generation of the Murong family in Sijiu, a leading figure expected to lead the Murong family to greater heights in twenty years.
"Murong Qizhu? What a ridiculous name."
Li Qianfan sincerely complimented, then looked at Murong He in the video, "I'll give you three minutes to consider. Either the Murong family deals with Murong Qizhu themselves, or you watch Murong Mingyuan die."
A choice between two.
Li Qianfan did not want to escalate the situation because of Chu Yazhi.
Just kill one person.
Three minutes later!
Either Murong Qizhu or Murong Mingyuan must die!
Who dies, the Murong family decides.
So, who would the Sijiu Murong family choose to die?
This was the "headquarters" of the Murong family in Sijiu.
As soon as Murong Mingyuan led her men into Zhizhi Club, the core members of the Murong family had already gathered, awaiting good news.
Murong Mingyuan's operation was related to whether the Sijiu Murong family could regain the face they had lost in Tiandong.
Although everyone knew that dealing with a woman whom Li Qianfan ignored was not the act of a true hero.
A true hero would confront Li Qianfan directly.
But the Murong family dared not—
What they hadn't expected was that Li Qianfan had not abandoned Chu Yazhi!
Not only had he not abandoned Chu Yazhi, but he was currently within the club.
And conveniently, Murong Mingyuan had led her people to deliver themselves to his doorstep.
Now.
Li Qianfan, through the internet, had shown the Murong family the extent of his cruelty.
Such a beautiful face, ruined in an instant.
And he had forced the Murong family to choose between two lives within three minutes!
They regretted it deeply—
Too late!
They had to make a choice within three minutes.
So, who should die?
Murong He and the others instinctively looked at Murong Qizhu.
Murong Qizhu's face was pale at this moment.
He had truly not expected things to escalate to this point.
If only he had known—
Murong Qizhu then looked at an old man.
The old man was Murong Mingyuan's grandfather, the patriarch of the Murong family, Murong Mei.
Patriarch Murong Mei's old face was somber. The veins on the back of his left hand, which was gripping the chair, bulged like earthworms.
Murong Qizhu was the third-generation heir he had painstakingly cultivated.
And Murong Mingyuan, the most beautiful girl in the history of the Murong family, was the grandchild he doted on the most.
Who should die?
Three minutes was fleeting.
"Grandfather—"
Although Murong Qizhu did not want Murong Mingyuan to die, he wanted to live even more!!
He had to fight for his chance to survive.
Murong Mei looked at him.
Murong Qizhu took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Grandfather, everyone. Mingyuan has already been disfigured. For a girl, without her beauty, life is worse than death. I, cannot die."
He was stating a fact.
Anyone would think the same way.
But there was one person who did not.
That person was Murong Mingyuan, who could clearly hear what Murong Qizhu was saying through the video call!
If.
If Murong Qizhu had said he was willing to die to save Murong Mingyuan's life.
Then Murong Mingyuan would have definitely told Li Qianfan, "Come, kill me!"
But Murong Qizhu, who had meticulously planned the "kidnap Chu Yazhi" scheme and personally contacted Sister Hua, unhesitatingly told everyone that he could not die.
Murong Mingyuan's "heroic spirit of taking responsibility for her own actions" instantly turned to dust.
"Why, can't *you* die!?"
Murong Mingyuan wanted to shout this with all her might.
But her mouth moved, and she couldn't utter a single word.
Because of extreme grief (her beauty ruined), extreme anger (if you hadn't planned it, why would I have come for Chu Yazhi?), unspeakable sorrow, and an innate fear of death, her vocal cords failed her.
Not a single word could be spoken.
She could speak in her heart.
And so—
Murong Mingyuan cried out in her heart, "Murong Qizhu! I curse you to stab yourself to death with a knife. Twenty-nine times!"
Why did she curse Murong Qizhu to stab himself twenty-nine times?
This was a tradition passed down from the ancient Murong imperial family.
An ancestor of the Murong family, in their lineage, had lived to the age of 29.
When someone from the Murong family committed a heinous crime, they would be stabbed twenty-nine times before execution, as a form of repentance to the ancestor, seeking their forgiveness.
This tradition had gradually become a legend.
Murong Mingyuan had heard it many times as a child.
Therefore, when she cursed Murong Qizhu as "unmanly and deserving of death," she instinctively cursed him to stab himself twenty-nine times.
A curse—
Who would know that Murong Mingyuan was cursing someone in her heart?
Even if someone knew, who would care!
"Good."
Murong Mei finally made up his mind, sacrificing Murong Mingyuan to protect Murong Qizhu.
With his nod, the Murong core members present also breathed a silent sigh of relief.
They had truly feared that the old patriarch, due to his exceptional doting on Murong Mingyuan, would choose Murong Qizhu to die in this situation.
After all, Murong Mingyuan had already been disfigured.
"We must never forget this account of Mingyuan's death!"
The Murong core members exchanged quick glances, their expressions grave, and nodded slowly.
"Thank you, Grandfather."
Seeing that the patriarch had made the correct choice, Murong Qizhu, who had feared being sacrificed, instantly relaxed.
He couldn't control the smile on his face, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed in thanks.
Murong Mei gave a bitter smile and looked at Murong He.
He was about to speak to Murong He, who was holding the phone—
What to say!?
Before Murong Mei could say anything, he suddenly saw Murong Qizhu, his face beaming, pick up a knife from the fruit platter.
He fiercely plunged it into his own abdomen.